How much of "you" should you put in your brand?

At a recent branding workshop I held here in Seattle, there was a great discussion around how much of your personality do you put into a small business brand, if you eventually may want the business to be sold or "move on without you." Brand attributes and value should be authentic, but should really be grounded in what your customer base cares about - not only in what you feel you want to tell them. However, to be authentic, if the business is just you right now, then it should indeed reflect you, your traits, and your values. The brand can then be operationalized into the organization as it grows. We often forget many big companies are actually named for their founders, and the founders' beliefs and values still live on in the brand - because they were consistent with what their customers wanted and needed. Think H&R Block, Disney, Nordstrom, Oprah. Some founders choose to name their business something else in plans to sell the business or move on, but the personality and values of the founder still come through in the brand (Virgin and Richard Branson come to mind). What you do want to avoid, however, is an ego trip.  Do your personality traits and messages strengthen your brand promise and offer value to customers? Then, heck yeah, include them. But are you only interested in telling us "all about you" with no benefit to us, your prospective customers? Recently, I saw a website example from a coach (witholding link to protect the innocent) of hitting us from the home page with "me, me, me" and the About Me section right from and center - with no message tailoring of how that experience or personality can benefit me, the client. While this person's services and offerings may be top-notch and valuable, she's already lost me from the messaging on the very first page.  Customers want to hear about how you will help THEM. how you will benefit THEM. How working with you will make them taller/prettier/smarter/more successful/a better parent, etc. <a href="http://thecravecompany.com/">CRAVE</a> here in Seattle does a wonderful job with this. Founder Melody Biringer is a stylish and sassy connector of women and a serial entrepreneur. She loves to support women entreprenesses, create stylish and innovative  events, and connect people who can help each other. That's who she is. Those traits come to her naturally and she's embedded them in her overall brand and messaging for CRAVE: stylish, innovative, connections and community.  Her brand for CRAVE irepresents all of these things: she brings women business owners together in a collaborative and stylish support community, while also making sure they have fun. In her case, her personality is a perfect match for what her target audience "craves" (no pun intended) so it is a good thing that her brand represent that. But you will notice that her website messaging does not talk about HER per se; it talks about what women gain from being part of the CRAVE community that she has created. So definitely create a brand that is authentic to you, focuses on your values and beliefs - as long as those also add value to and help solve your customers' pains. You can never go wrong if you do that, no matter what name or brand attributes you give your company. 2009-11-05T00:35:37Z

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how-much-of-you-should-you-put-in-your-brand

2009-11-09T12:16:35Z

2009-11-09T19:16:54Z

Many solopreneurs do a great job of building an authentic brand that represents who they really are. But when can this personal touch go too far and actually hurt your business messaging?